The BEAR Quartet
USA
Benson Marshall, Cello
Ellen Hayashi, Violin
Abby Smith, Viola
Rachel Call, Violin
The BEAR Quartet is part of the chamber program at the The Gifted Music School (GMS) Conservatory in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is coached by Eugene Watanabe (Founder and Artistic Director, GMS), Anne Francis Bayless (Fry Street Quartet, Utah State University) and Rainer Eudeikis (Utah Symphony). Formed in Fall 2017, the quartet takes its name from an acronym of its members’ names: Benson Marshall, cello (17); Ellen Hayashi, violin (15); Abby Smith, viola (17); and Rachel Call, violin (16). In 2017-2018, the quartet performed for the Utah State Senate, won the Utah Symphony Youth Guild Recital, and participated in masterclasses with Laurie Smukler of the Juilliard School, Sel Kardan of the Colburn School, Simon James of the Seattle Symphony, and Midori Goto of the Curtis Institute. The Quartet also was named the 2018 Best of Utah Youth Small Ensemble. Nationally in 2018, the quartet took the bronze prize at the St. Paul String Quartet Competition in Minnesota and was the first-prize winner at The Pasadena Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Competition in California and the WDAV Young Chamber Musicians’ Competition in North Carolina.
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 by Felix Mendelssohn (7:12)
I. Adagio - Allegro Vivace
https://youtu.be/O1L8jUrjH9A
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 by Dmitri Shostakovich (7:48)
I. Largo
II. Allegro Molto
https://youtu.be/BUM6iAd1ar0
